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Bluecore lands $10M to put nuclear reactors on barges
Bluecore Energy raised a $10 million pre-seed to build portable nuclear reactors on barges for ports, nearby communities, and data centers.
Image: TechCrunch
Just seven months after launching, Bluecore Energy has raised $10 million in a pre-seed round led by Slauson & Co. to build small modular reactors (SMRs) on floating barges.
Founded by Kofi Asante, a former Uber Freight employee, the startup wants to deliver clean power to ports and nearby infrastructure using water-cooled nuclear systems mounted on barges. Asante told TechCrunch the reactors heat water, send the resulting steam into a generator, and spin a turbine to produce electricity. The system uses closed-loop water cooling.
Bluecore says its barges can be shipped to new locations, which Asante claims reduces transport-related emissions to zero. He also said the nuclear system would only need refueling once every few years. The barges could dock near communities and connect to the grid through subsea cables.
The company’s target is to power the equivalent of approximately 15,000 homes or scale up to meet the needs of a major port.
“We are able to utilize existing water-cooled nuclear technology that has been operating for over 70 years. With a production line of small modular reactors that can be rapidly deployed on water, there is a pathway to provide clean energy to the majority of the country.”
Bluecore said the new funding will go toward deploying its product. According to Asante, the startup has already secured a port terminal, barge, and test reactor pressure vessel. That test vessel is being used to simulate water flow while the company combines hardware and software testing to validate its design.
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Safety and data center demand
Asante said Bluecore is working with regulators to build safety into its first product from the start. He described multiple layers of safety and redundancy, including uranium clad inside a thick steel pressure vessel, plus concrete shielding and steel lining.
Bluecore also sees an opening in the power crunch driven by new data center construction.
“AI data centers execs have shared with me that they would not need to pull water or energy from communities around them if they are able to receive their own source of electricity and have access to water that is provided at sea.”
Other backers in the round include Harlem Capital, Precursor Ventures, Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, Hartbeat Ventures from actor Kevin Hart, and several angel investors.
Computing Editor
Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via TechCrunch
